Saturday 30 May 2015

my middle

On Thursday morning I woke up ready to face the world, which meant only one thing: work out! I've been really craving some ab workouts recently, so I figured that now was a good a time as any to start. So I did the Quick Cardio Warmup, Abs in a Flash, 5 Min Flat Abs, 6 Min to Sexy Abs and the Quick Ab Workout. Fair to say I'm pretty worn out now, but I'm glad I did it.

This morning, I pushed myself and did Extreme Abs and Extreme Abs 2! I usually find Extreme Abs 2 easier, but doing them together near killed me! Omg!

I intend to do some ab exercises every day now, as I'm going on NCS on the 29th June, so I want to try to look as good as I can for then! That's only 31 days! So I thought to myself, why not do some 30 day challenges so I can finish them the day before I leave? Good idea, yeah? I've decided to do the squat challenge and a plank challenge. Today's reps on the squats were pretty easy, but I know they're going to get much harder! But the plank thing? I might simplify what I was doing! Stay tuned for another post on that!

Monday 25 May 2015

getting crafty

Happy bank holiday! Not exactly something worth cheering for in itself, but it does mean another Monday off work and school, so it's not worth ignoring either. I've been meaning to write a post for the past few days and I've started a couple of times, only to be stopped by silly little things; today I intend to finish a post since I've actually been kind of active this weekend.

Saturday saw the last dance classes before half term, which is always a sad sight; I hate having even one week off. Anyway, we did a ton of stretches, including splits, which I was pretty pleased with. I now have them completely flat on my left and only a little off with my right; I did have them flat once but pulling a hamstring is never the best idea. I'm still a million miles off my box splits. I doubt I'll ever get them to be honest. Anyway, my hips and calves are still a little achey, which I guess is a good thing.

Yesterday I did five, yes five, videos, whoo! I did the Quick Cardio Warmup, 5 Minute Arms, 5 Minute Abs, the Inner Thigh Challenge and the Extreme Muffintop Crushing Workout, which is probably my personal favourite right now. My obliques have actually been feeling nice and tight recently!

And today, I met with Hannah to have an informal photoshoot, and we went crazy by wearing shorts at 13 degrees C. Luckily it wasn't too cold, and I can feel that my legs are looking kind of nice too! Just a little bit more toning needed for it to be visible! I much prefer working them to my abs, honestly.


 

In other news, I've been a little obsessed with making friendship bracelets this weekend, whenever I've had a spare five minutes. To make this one, I used five stands of pale pink embroidery thread (32"each) and five coloured strands (30" each). It only took a couple of hours, so I made Hannah a matching one too!


Here's a selfie from the shoot yesterday! Dan and Phil cat faces!

Tuesday 19 May 2015

a fresh start?

I'm really in need of a fresh start. I've not followed the calendar or done any of Cassey's videos in over a month, I''d guess. Not properly, anyway. I won't be able to work out fully every day for a long time either, which is just annoying. I can feel myself grow weaker but I have to spend all of my time revising, otherwise I'll fail exams.

So on Saturday I decided to take a short while after dance off, and just do a few videos. I chose Abs in a Flash, Extreme Muffintop Crusher and the I Really Like You Squat Challenge. My legs actually died after this!

It's Tuesday now. My quads and obliques have only just stopped hurting from those videos, oh man they were tough! I had to skip dance last night and will have to again tonight. I had two exams today, and oh my life, they were pretty difficult! Especially the geography paper:( I'll just have to revise for tomorrow's physics exam tonight, there's no need to look back at things I can't change.


Sunday 10 May 2015

healthy banana overnight oats

Today, I'd like to share with you my favourite recipe for overnight oats. It literally only takes ten minutes to prepare the night before, and serves either two people, or lasts two days. Enjoy!


Ingredients
1 cup of oats
1 cup (240ml) milk
1-2 bananas
1tsp vanilla extract
2tsp honey
Pinch of sea salt
Dark chocolate chips

Method
1. Slice bananas and microwave for 30-45 seconds. I tend to use 1.5 bananas and microwave first for 30 seconds, stir, and then microwave again for another 15 or so.
2. Combine all ingredients except the chocolate chips in a mason jar, or other airtight container.
3. Shake!
4. Leave in fridge for at least 4 hours, or ideally overnight.
5. Before eating, add the chocolate chips.

Clockwise from top left: banana with oats; all ingredients; close up of all ingredients

And there you go! Yummy, healthy breakfast! Since I swapped my normal cereal for this, I have had a lot more energy and noticed a little less bloating, so all's good! Enjoy :)

Saturday 9 May 2015

ballet babes

Today was another lazy day, surprise surprise, but I did have two ballet classes and the little girls' class. Took some pictures and I kinda like how my body looks!


Friday 8 May 2015

study break

Since the post I published earlier, I decided to take an evening off from revising and just do some Blogilates videos instead. I've missed doing them, but now I realise how unfit I've been getting! The one thing that inspired me to do this is the possibility of being able to cosplay Wonder Woman the day after my exams finish, so I really want to look my best for then! A local event is trying to break the world record for the number of people dressed as superheroes, I think, and I can't wait! Hannah's going as Supergirl:)

Anyway, I only had time to do Abs in a Flash, 5 Minute Toned Arms and the 30 Day Thigh Slimming Challenge. But oh my life, it was so worth it! I'm tired and achey now! Just as well I'm off to bed now, to recover before ballet tomorrow ;) Goodnight!


ballet buddies

I can't even begin to describe how good it felt to be back at ballet last Saturday, even though I only had one week off. There's just something about barrework that I love; it might be the repetitiveness, it might just be that I'm able to move freely within the steps, with legs, feet, arms and head all playing a part in the movement.

Anyway, we worked on a number of barre exercises for our gradework in ballet class, and then in pointe we did the same, learning more exercises followed by a fun little variation in the centre. I noticed that my feet are a little stronger than before, so I was able to last a a bit longer before taking a break. It involved lots of pirouettes, posé turns, and so many more steps I can't remember the names of.

I think one of my favourites was a variation on a sissonne. Except we replaced the jump with an arabesque, and then closing the feet. When we traveled to the left, my supporting leg wasn't quite srtaight, and I wasn't quite over on my pointe. Oh well. I used my arms to try and make up for it. But when we traveled to the right, I thought my knee was also slightly bent, but apparantly not. I've been working my quads quite a  bit recently, and they've become bulkier than I remember; I think I just need to get used to them - my leg was straight after all.


On Monday, I didn't have dance class because of it being the bank holiday and all. Tuesday's contemporary class consisted of dancing our routine a lot and trying out some tricks to see if we could do them in the dance.

Since then, I've not done any workouts. Ohmygosh, I feel myself getting so lazy, but there is no time left after all the revision and extra classes at school. I have no idea what to do!